Harrison: Lack of specialist teachers may impact availability of some subjects

WESTERN BUREAU: With teacher migration still a significant issue affecting Jamaica's education sector, outgoing Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) President, La Sonja Harrison, is calling for corrective measures to be implemented to prevent disorder ahead of the upcoming September school term.

Speaking to journalists following today's first session of the JTA's 59th annual conference at the Royalton Negril Resorts and Spa in Westmoreland, Harrison said replacements may likely need to be found for specialist subject teachers who are seek better paying jobs overseas.

“I know principals are locked with their senior management that they may have left, and they are looking and seeing how best to deploy and redeploy, and how they are going to source [other educators],” said Harrison.

“It may be that for the timetables they did in July, they will have to redo the timetables, because if they cannot find the requisite trained individuals, they may just have to make the decision that they are not able to offer certain subject areas for a particular period.”

Harrison's remarks follow a recent declaration from Education Minister Fayval Williams that her ministry will provide updates on the number of teachers who leave the education system as they become available.

On August 16, Williams told a post-Cabinet press briefing that there has been a 73 per cent decline in the number of teachers who have resigned from the public sector between January and September this year. However, critics have argued that the data is incomplete as September is yet to arrive.

Regarding Williams' pronouncement, Harrison said that the minister spoke based on the information available to her.

“I think that is a fair enough response from the minister, as she can only speak to what it is that she has at her fingertips. What we do know is that with the data we have, we can anticipate and therefore put in the corrective responses as best as we possibly can,” said the outgoing JTA president.

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